From Bangor, Maine, to San Diego, California, Marietta attracts the best and the brightest aspiring health care professionals from across the country to study in the College’s Physician Assistant Studies Graduate Program.
On Saturday, July 27th, the program will graduate 37 students in its 16th graduating class. The ceremony will take place at 1:00 p.m. in Dyson Baudo Recreation Center. A reception will immediately follow.
Miranda Collins, Director of the PA Program, said the class is typically made up of students representing a broad geographical area.
“As the No. 1 program in Ohio, according to U.S. News & World Report, we draw students from across the U.S., while still accepting over 60 percent of each cohort from Ohio and West Virginia,” she said. “The geographic diversity creates a nice, dynamic learning environment.”
The graduate candidates have successfully completed a 12-month didactic (classroom) phase and a 14-month clinical phase, earning them a Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies. The clinical phase included rotations in family, internal and emergency medicine, general surgery, orthopedics, prenatal care/gynecology, psychiatry/behavioral health, and pediatrics. Marietta’s program is accredited through the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA).
The graduating class will be eligible to sit for the Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam (PANCE) seven days after graduation, and most will take it within two weeks of earning their master’s degree, Collins said.
Among this year’s graduates is Zachary Fairbanks, the first recipient of the Gloria Stewart Scholarship. The award is given annually to the student who displays dedication and passion for service and the physician assistant profession.
“The Class of 2019 has been a wonderful cohort,” Collins said. “The faculty and staff have enjoyed working with and getting to know them over the past 26 months. They have worked extremely hard and the program is quite proud of them. We wish them many years of a successful, fulfilling and enjoyable career as physician assistants.”